11/29/2021

My Friend & POTUS, JRB,      

            Time to get back to work. I have one week left in the fall quarter & a mountain of student work piling up that needs my attention. I’m sure Jill has complained to you about the time required to read students’ assignments. I always wonder if the students even look at my comments. Alas, it is part of the job so I will embrace it.

            It looks like you will spend the week trying to get a handle on Omicron & assuring consumers that store shelves will be stocked this Christmas. I suggest that you evoke FDR & remind our fellow citizens that the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. Please tell everyone that we shouldn’t let our amygdala hijack our brains into panicking. Instead, we need to do some deep breathing so our cerebral cortex has time to kick in & we can make sound decisions. This requires what psychologist Daniel Goleman called “emotional intelligence (EI).” Fortunately, we are finally teaching EI in school & hopefully, the next generation will be better at quelling their fears than mine is.

            Please add a conversation with Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison to your “to do” list this week. According to the G, “Australia’s Future Fund has invested $157m in 14 publicly traded companies that have done business with the Myanmar military… The Future Fund holds about $200bn in investments made on behalf of the Australian government.” Please tell him, “It is time Australia stops profiting at the expense of the lives of Myanmar people and Myanmar’s future.” Consider including Justice For Myanmar spokesperson, Yadanar Maung, on the line to learn about all of the global companies that have some kind of dealings with the Tatmadaw.

            As you embark on your week, recall Bayard Rustin’s reminder, “what God asks of us is that we not stop trying.”

            BYBS,